Khodaidad

General Khodaidad is a former Minister of Counter Narcotics of Afghanistan.

He was born to an ethnic Hazara family in Shahristan District, Daykundi (Uruzgan) in central Afghanistan, the son of Gholam Ali, a farmer.

Khodaidad completed his primary education at Shahristan Primary School in 1967.

During that time the Hazara people hardly advanced to higher education in Kabul due to tribal discrimination in the country.

There were no schools for the Hazaras, and it was very difficult to go to Kabul and study.

The Hazara areas were under immense pressure from the Central government, who were not supportive and intentionally did not provide educational facilities in the Hazara-based areas.

This meant the Hazara people had limited opportunity to develop and go on to further education.

In particular, it was very difficult to get places in the army, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and any key roles in the government.

However, due to his hard work General Khodaidad managed to obtain a place at Kabul to study.

He received his military high school diploma from Kabul Military High School, (Harbi Showanzai) in 1972.

He completed his diploma with high marks and was one of the few selected, bright students to go to India to study at the National Defence Academy (NDA), located in Khadakwasla, near Pune, Maharashtra, India, which one of the most prestigious Academy in the world, in 1972.

He studied at the NDA for three and a half years.

Khodaidad graduated from the National Defence Academy (NDA) -India successfully and afterwards joined the Indian Military Academy (IMA), located in Dehradun, where he studied until 1977.

After his return from India, Khodaidad had achieved the rank of second lieutenant infantry commando officer in the Afghan Army in 1977.

He was the first army officer from the Sharistan district of Daikondi province in the Afghan armed forces.

Khodaidad was a member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan-Khalq.

After the 1978 Saur Revolution and the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989), he continued serving the government of Afghanistan and in 1983 Khodaidad was a Major and commander of 444 commando brigade.

He recalls his time of meeting and discussing with mujahideen leaders hence the reason why the central zones of Afghanistan witnessed peace and harmony in the late 1980s.

Khodaidad had positive connections with local mujahideen leaders and commanders in areas under his sphere of influence including Wardak, Ghazni, Bamyan, Urazgan, Logar and parts of Paktia and Paktika provinces.

He encouraged the various different mujahideen from various tribes to join the peace process and work towards the unity of Afghanistan.

This included encouraging all the factions of the Hazara mujahideen to put their differences aside and work for the future of Afghanistan.

As part of the reconciliation and reintegration process, Khodaidad created an operational group for all the tribes living in his area of responsibility namely Ghazni, Wardak and other areas in Central Afghanistan.

In 1984, during the government of Afghan President Babrak Karmal, Khodaidad became the first officer from the Hazara people ever to achieve the rank of a general in the Afghan National Army.

In 1985 he was sent to the Frunze Military Academy, located in Moscow and one of the most-prestigious Soviet military academies, for a period of one year.

Khodaidad's military career includes:

After the collapse of Najibullah's government in 1992 and the beginning of civil unrest in Afghanistan, Khodaidad, on behalf of the Hazara people of Afghanistan, was appointed as the Minister of National Security during the prime government of Sibghatullah Mojaddedi.

As Afghanistan drifted to civil war, Khodaidad used his non alignment by cooperating and supporting the United Nations peace process in achieving national unity and stability in Afghanistan.

Khodaidad continued to keep his non-alliance remaining neutral and did not support any particular factions, groups or individuals.

His main goal was to bring peace and security for Afghanistan.

He tried to keep his good relationship with the people of Afghanistan both living in Afghanistan and outside.

However, after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he sought refuge in London until the fall of the Taliban regime.

The operational groups consisted of three infantry divisions, 95th Division for Ghazni, 96th Division for Wardak and Bamyan provinces and no 97th division for Mazar-i-Shariff province.

In the meantime, he was commanding the operational group in these areas.

His relations with mujahideen commanders in Takhar, Kunduz and Baghlan provinces was highly appreciated by the government as it added to improving the security and stability in areas under his responsibility.

In 2001, after the U.S.-led invasion at the start of the War in Afghanistan, he was invited to his homeland by the international community to support the Afghan people to bring peace, security and national unity to the country.

He became a member of the Emergency Loya Jirga of Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban regime.

In 2004, Khodaidad was appointed by Hamid Karzai as Deputy Minister of Counter Narcotics and Member of National Security Council of Afghanistan and shortly after receiving parliamentary approval in 2007, he became the Minister of Counter Narcotics until March 2010.

In 2006 he attended the Top Leadership Programme (TLP1) in Berin Germany organised by the commission for reform of public affairs and UNDP to strengthen good governance and leadership in Afghanistan.

While Khodaidad was commanding the 14th Infantry Division of Ghazni Province he played a major role in the Afghan governments National Reconciliation programme instigated by Najibullah.

Khodaidad managed to convince several mujahideen factions, groups and individuals in the central and northeastern zones of the country to enter the reconciliation and reintegration process.